Means and method of producing painted designs



Feb. I, 1944. 'c DICKS- MEANS AND METHOD OF PRODUCING PAINTED DESIGNSFiled Feb. 17. 1941 INVENTGR. 65m 564 ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 1, 1944 MEANS AND METHOD OF PRODUCING PAINTED DESIGNSClarence Dicks, Detroit, Mich., assignor to R. N.

Nason & 00., San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication February 17, 1941, Serial No. 379,212

Claims.

This invention relates to the application of designs, letters, insignia,and the like, to a surface through the use of pre-formed stencils, andparticularly to improvements in the process set forth in the priorpatent, No. 2,013,194, issued September 3, 1935, to Albert E. Vaughn andentitled Method of producing painted designs, characters, letters andthe like.

The present invention embodies the direct application of a gummed-backstencil to a speciallyprepared surface, by a preferred form of adhesiveapplied in a particular fashion whereby the use of such stencils isenhanced and whereby after their removal, the texture of the speciallypainted surface underneath will not be stained or altered.

The military and aircraft industries are using a dull finish,non-reflecting so-called camouflage paint of lusterless enamel-like flatwall paint.

If one attempted to letter on such a surface by the use of methodscommonly used with stencils, this dull finish enamel will be stained andadheion will not be good. If one attempted to brush onto thisdull-finish paint the adhesive commonly employed in connection with thissort of work,

it would leave a stain when the stencil-mask was removed. Therefore, inorder to apply the system, it is necessary to prepare a special adhesivemixture, as hereinafter described.

The invention has been developed more especially in connection with theneed for marking great fleets of trucks and other vehicles with numbersand various indicia where it is essential not only to guard against anyimpairment of the surface treated, as by staining, but where the workcan be done rapidly and on a large lineproduction scale withoutinterruption or delay.

It is to be understood that the methods, materials and proportions areexemplary or" the invention and may be modified in detail withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

The invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

Fig. 1 shows a stencil applied to the surface on which the design isdesired;

Fig. 2 shows the stencil after the removal of the ties;

Fig. 3 shows the surface after the removal therefrom of the main body ofthe stencil, leaving the separated interior parts of letters stillaffixed;

Fig. 4 shows the completed design after removal of the masking portionsshown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates a portion of the masking stencil partially removedfrom the position shown in Fig. 3 to reveal the character of theadhesive connection; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a preliminary step in the preparation of the stencil,the latter being shown fragmentarily.

In the drawing, the process of application of a stencil to a surface hasbeen illustrated in detail in order to show the full usefulness of theadhesive mixture to be fully described hereafter.

In Fig. 1 a pie-cut stencil has been shown secured to the surface 2 onwhich the characters are to be painted by means of the preferredadhesive. I prefer to use stencils cut from a rubberized or pro-coatedlong-fibered kraft paper, long fibered paper being preferred since itgives the tensile strength required during the removal operation. Arubberized priming or filler coat is required on one side of the paper.This gumbacked paper is commercially available and well known in theart.

The adhesive solution is spattered onto this pie-coated paper by using alow pressure spray gun with'a type of nozzle which will produce a largenumber of spaced small globules or islands. It is essential that thisdistribution of the adhesive solution be obtained, since if a continuouslayer adhesive were applied between the stencil and the surface, thestencil could not be pulled away without tearing.

It has been explained above that ordinary adhesives can not be used,since they may stain or alter the surface to which they are applied.Particularly is this so in such applications as the aircraft industrywhere dull finish or camouflage paint is used. The need for a tightlygripping adhesive which will yet allow quick removal on the productionline has been indicated.

The nature of the adhesive solution is of great importance, since itmust be very tacky, or highly adhesive but must not take a permanentset. The bond must be strong but capable of rupture when force isproperly applied to remove the stencil.

t has been found most satisfactory to use a mixture of ordinary rubbercement with certain proportions of a commercially known solution ofrubber with synthetic resins added. The latter is commercially known asMixture No. 609-0 and is manufactured by the Goodyear Tire and RubberCo. It consists of a solution of a high grade water white rosin, eitherplain or hydrogenated in petroleum naptha. The base cement consists offirst grade rubbers with gas black for color and zinc oxide for makingit opaque, and is made up with a petroleum naptha.

or globule effect is produced in practice by means of a comparativelylow air pressure of about ten pounds per square inch, together with aspray nozzle of the type known commercially as a De Viibis #37, with aDe Vilbis Model C. F. spray gun and a pressure type cup. The viscosityor fluid consistency of the adhesive should be such as to allow fiftysquare feet of surface to be sprayed from one pint of the solution, withisland coverage as above. It has been found that spray pressures of thisorder are necessary, since at greater pressures, for example the usualfifty pounds per square inch, the solution becomes stringy, formingspider webs and the island distribution can not be obtained. The sizeand spacing of the globules or islands may be varied as desired bychanging the pressure and nozzle size slightly from the values given.

.After this operation, the adhesive is allowed to dry for eight to tenminutes, and the stencil I may then be applied to the surface 2, as inFig. 1. This drying period is suificient to produce a very tackysurface, but one which will permit the stencil to be slid around on thesurface 2 until the exact position desired is obtained and all parts aresmoothly seated. The adhesive used as above described preventsdiscolorations or changes in the character of the surface 2.

In applying the stencil I, care is taken to press all portions intoclose contact with the surface 2, particularly along the edges of thecharacters 5, 5,

I, 9, I and II in order that the outline of the finished letters may besharp and distinct. The stencil tics I 4, I5, I9 and 2| are then cutout, using a sharp knife or similar instrument, with care not to cutthrough the protective coating on surface 2. In cases where the designis Very intricate, the masking member or stencil may be indented alongthe lines to be followed in cutting the ties. This may be done duringthe stencilcutting operation by methods well known to those skilled inthe art.

The cut ties are next removed from the surface 2 and the stencil l byslipping a knife blade under one edge and pulling them loose. With. theadhesive mixture above described, it has been found easy to peel theties away from the surface. This operation leaves the stencil asillustrated in Fig. 2, the desired characters 5-! and 9-II beingunobstructed by ties and ready for the application of paint.

The characters are then transferred to the surface 2 by spraying orbrushing paint over the stencil I. When sufficiently dry, the stencil ispeeled off, leaving the design on surface 2, as shown in Fig. 3. Thecenter or detached stencil portions I2, I5, I! and 20 of characters I,9, I0

and I I, respectively, are still attached to the surfaceZ at this pointin the operation.

It is desirable, in using spray gun paint application, to provideadditional masking of the surface 2 surrounding the body of stencil I.Such masking need not be described in detail, since it is well known inthe art. In case such additional masking is used, it may be removed atthe same time as is stencil I.

Next, the portions I2, I5, I? and 20, masking the detached centralportions of the characters I, 9, I0 and II, are removed. This step isillustrated in Fig. 5. It has been found that a slow, steady pull, in aplane nearly parallel to the surface 2, will detach the stencil withoutany difiiculty, although if it were jerked normal to that surface thestencil body might tear before the adhesive released its grip.Sufiicient tensile strength is obtained in long-fibered kraft papers toallow successful use of the above method, even using very thin,light-weight paper stock.

For purposes of illustration, a fragment of the central masking portion20 of the character D, shown at H in Fig. 4, is shown in Fig. 5undergoing removal. On the rear or applied side 22 of the maskingportion 20 may be seen the islands, or minute globules 24 of adhesivesolution still adhering to the mask. A few of these adhesive particles24 may remain on the surface 2, but they are so small as to beindistinguishable at a casual inspection and may be left on the surfacewithout further attention for all ordinary purposes. If it is necessaryto clean the surface, they can be picked off with a rubber roller whichhas been previously coated with rubber cement.

The process is now completed and the stencil may be discarded. It willbe apparent that by utilizing an adhesive which permits peeling off thestencil, it is possible to accomplish a substantial saving in handlingtime and labor cost.

In summary, it will be seen that the present invention provides a rapid,direct method of applying characters and the like to a surface. Thepeculiar properties of the adhesive solution permit it to be applied atproduction line tempo, and allow the subsequent removal of the stencilwith similar rapidity. It may be applied directly to the desired surfaceWithout altering the character of the surface or staining it, and ispeculiarly suited to use with camouflage paints used by the armed forcesof the United States.

The application of the adhesive solution described is not limited to usewith stencils, but may be used in any case requiring a firm butremovable connection between surfaces, as will occur to those familiarwith the art, and controllable degrees of adhesion may be obtained byvarying the size and spacing of the adhesive particles.

In the claims, the term design has been used to include any and allcharacters, numerals, insignia, letters, and the like, which are to bedefined through the use of stencils.

What I claim is:

1. A stencil, comprising a body of high tensile strength, cut-outportions defining a design to be applied to a surface, and animpermanent bondforming tacky adhesive having the properties of notstaining and not altering the character of said surface, spattered inspaced islands on the portion of said stencil body to be pressed againstsaid surface.

2. A stencil, comprising a sheet body of longfibered paper having apriming coat on one side thereof, cut-out portions defining designs'andthe like to be applied to a surface, and an adhesive spattered over saidpriming coat in minute, spaced islands comprising from 60% to of rubbercement mixed with from 40% to 20% of a solution of resin.

3. The method of producing an adhesive layer for the application ofstencils to a surface, which comprises spraying under pressure ofapproximately ten (10) pounds per square inch a mixture of from 60% to80% of rubber cement solution with from 40% to 20% of resin in solutiononto said stencil in isolated minute islands, allowing the mixture soapplied to dry for approximately eight to ten minutes sufiiciently toproduce a tacky surface, and positioning the stencil on said surface.

4. The method of preparing a stencil for use upon a dull finish,non-reflecting, lustreless surface, which comprises the steps ofspattering by means of a spray gun under pressure of approximately ten(10) pounds per square inch an adhesive, characterized as a rubber-resincement, upon a rubberized or precoated long fibre craft paper pre-cutstencil, whereby islands of adhesive are formed in contrast to acontinuous layer of adhesive and allowing the, adhesive islands soformed to dry for from eight to ten minutes before applying the stencilto said surface.

5. The method of preparing a stencil for use upon a dull finish,non-reflecting, lustreless surface, which comprises spattering anadhesive,

